Break
by Aquila Aqua
Summary: Secret Agent AU. Arata is an agent of the National LBX Agency’s Junior Program. His missions lead him to Kamui Island and eventually to Kamui Daimon. Breaking up illegal LBX battling rings? Piece of cake. Protecting the PM’s son from assassins? No problem. Hiding the fact you are a secret agent and have Dissociative Identity Disorder? That’s going to be tricky. PS.Main cast are 17
1. Secret Agent Arc-Part 1

**Authors Note: After so long of inactivity in the Danball Senki fandom, I finally have a new idea for a retelling of Danball Senki Wars after rereading Different than You. Originally, tgis was supposed to be a rewrite of DTY but I decided to do a secret agent au instead.**

**Warning:Discussion about mental health.**

**I apologize in advance if my portrayal of Arata's DID is inaccurate in any way and if I make mistakes, please feel free to correct me. However I refuse to accept criticisms on the basis that Arata's DID is not the same as Hollywood movies. I will only accept correction based on actual facts.**

* * *

A red-haired boy stared out at the sea as the boat bobbed along the waves. It's destination, Kamui Island is not far away and he was eager to get off the boat and start his mission. It never gets easy to be away from his family or his handler and to be thrusted into situations that could potentially outs his secret. But for now, he wants to be left alone until he got to the school and 'Happy' will automatically take over like he usually does for social settings.

Thankfully, it doesn't take long for the boat to dock. As he was walking to the school, he paused to admire the town which is old fashion.

"Happy would love this. This town feels cozy." Arata muttered to himself.

"It's emulating the townscape of the 1960's."

Arata tensed and slowly turned to the side where a blond boy was staring ahead with a pad in his hands. He forced himself to remain calm. "Oh. And you are? I think I saw you on the boat. I'm Sena Arata."

"Hoshihara Hikaru."

Arata tilted his head as he had heard his name before but could not remember where. Maybe Happy knew. He shrugged and continued on to the school. After a while, Hikaru glanced up and realized that Arata was ahead. Reading Arata's info again, he scoffed. Mediocre was the best way to describe the red head. The tournaments that Arata participated in were not renowned and obscured. But still qualified to allow him to enroll in the academy.

"And within the last three months too." Hikaru noted the dates of the tournaments. He raised an eyebrow and glanced at the receding back of the red head. He had to keep an eye on him despite his mediocre record, he decided.

* * *

Eventually, both boys arrived at the school. Despite Arata's head start, he allowed Hikaru to catch up and they went through the customs at the front gate to verify their identities. They were then told to hand over their LBX, CCM and any other electronic devices. Once done, they were brought to the class.

Along the way, he felt the familiar feeling of dizziness and slowly blacking out. Blinking, his eyes became brighter and grinned cheerily as Happy fronted. He was slightly aware that Hikaru was eyeing him suspiciously. And for the rest of the day, Arata allowed Happy to take over and get to know his classmates while he watched through his eyes to keep an eye for any sign of the illegal LBX battling ring he was investigating. He was aware that Hikaru was suspicious about the sudden change in personality but Happy can wave it off as being shy earlier.

He tensed when he felt something stirring at his corner of the system. Skimming through it, he winced when he realized it was Violent.

Violent was an alter that he did not want coming forth. He was unpredictable and could potentially jeopardize his investigations about the battling ring and Happy's relationships with his classmates. Thankfully, after briefly scanning their surroundings through the body's eyes, he seemed satisfied by what he saw and retreated back. Arata sighed in relief and resumed watching while keeping an eye on Violent in case he resurfaced.

* * *

_Two weeks later_

Over at the Swan Manor, many Rossius students were taking advantage of the weekend and clear weather to catch up on their school work or plan for their upcoming missions. Muraku had decided to do his school work outside and enjoy the warm wind at the same time.

"Did you hear the rumors?"

Muraku glanced up from his homework at his friend Mikhail who spoke. "If it is about the battling rings, then yes."

"Are you going to do anything about it?" Mikhail asked, sitting across from his friend.

"Eventually. I am giving the headmaster a few more days before I take action."

"You really want to deal with the battling rings yourself?" Vanessa and Kageto came over and sat down with them.

"If I have to. I cannot allow this to affect my plans. If someone has the same idea as I do, they can use the battling ring to accumulate silver credit easily." Muraku said grimly, homework forgotten.

"Ok." Vanessa slowly said. "What's your plan then? Assuming that the headmaster doesn't shut them down within your deadline."

"I need to find a way to infiltrate the battling ring and get as much information as I can about it. And gather evidence about the students participating."

"But how are you going to infiltrate the battling ring? No offence, but you're not the best liars and there's no reason why you would join a battling ring to get silver credits when you can just make a few more students LOST." Kageto pointed out.

"Kageto!" Vanessa and Mikhail hissed, the former elbowing the mechanic. Muraku barely reacted outwardly but his friends could tell that this bothered him.

"Sorry." Kageto apologized while rubbing the part where Vanessa elbowed. "But still, I don't think anyone would believe you if you wanted in the battling ring for no reason at all."

This time, Mikhail nodded in agreement. Tilting his head in thought, he then suggested. "What about Vanessa or I? Would that work?"

"Probably not." Muraku shook his head. "Our platoon earns the most silver credit in the high school division. The battling rings are said to mainly target students who are struggling to earn silver credit."

They all paused as an ideal person came into mind. Vanessa, Kageto and Mikhail shared apprehensive looks while Muraku sighed. "Mia."

* * *

"No."

Muraku raised an eyebrow at his twin sister. "You haven't listened to what I have to say."

"I know what you're going to ask." Mia rolled her eyes. "You need someone to infiltrate the illegal battling ring that was set up on the island recently and I'm the only person you can trust who fits the profile of the students they are recruiting because I'm always broke no thanks to my troublemaking duo and maniac mechanic."

"That pretty much sums it." Mikhail rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"I really need your help with this. I would do this myself but my reputation as the Violet Devil won't let me get close to them." Muraku pleaded.

Mia sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "It's not that I don't want to help you, but I'm already on thin ice with most of the teachers. If something goes wrong and I get caught, I'll be expelled on the spot, no chance to explain that this is your scheme. And who knows what they'll do to my platoon. You know that they are anxiously waiting for the day they find a way to get themselves expelled with all the trouble they caused."

Muraku cannot argue with that. While he was lucky that he was assigned to a platoon that had enough common sense to keep out of trouble, Mia was not. Mia's platoon had two troublemakers who love pranks and cause chaos during War Time with their shenanigans. And their mechanic was just as crazy as those two with her maniac ideas despite her capabilities. But at the end, the three of them are fiercely loyal to Mia just as his platoon is to him so he'll give them that. Even so, he had to try and convince his sister to help him out one more time.

"I really need your help on this Mia. And I promise that if you get caught, I'll step in and take responsibility."

Mikhail blinked at him while Mia glared at him. "You are only making me worry more if you say that." She then threw her head back. "How about we compromise on this? We'll wait three days to see if the headmaster takes action against them. During that time, we'll find out who are the students participating in the battling rings."

Muraku slowly nodded. "Alright. We need to focus on the students who are low in the rankings and narrow it down to those who have more silver credit to spend than they should have."

Mia nodded. "And by the end of those three days, if the headmaster hasn't done anything yet, I'll go with your plan and infiltrate the battling rings. But," She held up a finger for emphasis, "I'm only going to find out where their base of operations is. Once we get the location or if something happens, I'm bailing out and we give the location to the headmaster."

"That's reasonable." Mikhail nodded but Muraku has other plans.

"Can you help me infiltrate the base once you are in?"

Mikhail shot his friend a panicked look. "What?!"

Mia raised an eyebrow at him. "Why?"

"Giving the headmaster the location, and list of the students we suspect are participating in the battling rings is not enough. We need more information about their operations and photos of the students actively participating in the battles."

With a groan, Mia facepalmed and slumped in her chair. "You and your stubborn streak." She held up her hands in defeat. "Alright, fine, I'll help you get in once I infiltrate the ring. But just remember that this is your idea."

"Thank you so much." Muraku said sincerely.

* * *

When Vanessa and Kageto learned about the change of plans, they were understandably upset. But they were not willing to let their captain do this alone. By the end of the deadline, Mia did her part of the plan and sweet talked one of the students they figured was participating in the battling ring to help her get in. And the 6th platoon was waiting outside the Swan Manor for her signal.

"You don't have to follow me in that place." Muraku grunted for the third time.

"And we want to. We're not letting you into enemy territory without backup." Vanessa said pointedly. The other two boys nodded in agreement. Warmth filled Muraku's chest at their commitment and loyalty to him. It made him glad not for the first time that he had the best teammates in the whole school.

A chirp from his bracelet made him lift his wrist. He exhaled and nodded. "That's the signal." He tapped on the metallic surface of the bracelet and immediately, a radar with a red dot appeared. "Come on. She's down at the docks."

"Once again, I don't know how you managed to smuggle a smartwatch disguised as a bracelet into the island." Kageto commented as they took off in the direction of Mia's tracker.

"The perks of having a superspy dad I supposed." Vanessa laughed.

Muraku rolled his eyes at that. "Again, he's not a spy. He's a government agent."

"Similar thing." Vanessa shrugged.

* * *

It took Arata a while to regain his bearings when he fronted again once Happy left the Duck Manor and went to sleep. He exhaled deeply and leisurely walked down to the docks. Over the last two weeks, he was investigating the battling ring when he fronted and took his time convincing someone to let him join. Considering that he let Happy take over at school and around his classmates, it was a long but not difficult task.

'You'd think that the students would be more careful with their spending, considering that they aren't supposed to have a lot of silver credit.' He shook his head as he arrived at the warehouse that was the base of operations of the battling ring.

Casually leaning down to tie his shoelace, he secretly pulled out his CCM and plugged a UBS into it. The program in the UBS encrypted his phone and allowed him to contact the mainland. He quickly shot a message to his handler, informing him that he found the base of operations and approached the guard.

"Got an invite." He flashed the poster that was given to him that also functioned as the key to entering.

"Password?"

"Nothing can compare to Grandma's cooking but LBX battles." Arata recited.

The guard grunted and waved him in. Taking a deep breath, Arata entered and had to blink to adjust to the dimness of the warehouse. LBX dioramas were spread all over the floor with a scoreboard for bets and winnings on the wall. Above on the catwalks, spectators were cheering for their favorite contestants to win and occasionally collecting winnings for bets placed on the matches. Arata's face twisted in disgust and shoveled his hands into his pocket.

He climbed up the catwalk and tried to appear interested in the battles as he walked in the direction of the main office. But something he spotted made him pause. There was a girl his age flicking her eyes around and from what he could tell, was observing the place more than the battles. And what surprised him is that he instantly recognized her as his handler's daughter. This created a conflict in him at the thought of potentially needing to get his handler's daughter arrested. But thankfully, he didn't need to go through with it.

He watched as she walked over to a fire escape unnoticed and left the door ajar. As soon as she was done, she slipped away and seconds later, four people slipped in. Arata's eyes shot up when he recognized one of the boys as his handler's son this time. He cursed in realization of what they were doing.

"I need to get them out of here." Arata spun around and headed back down to Muraku's position. He was now alone and he did not spot any of his friends nearby. Most likely scattered to gather evidence on the students.

"Hey." Arata grabbed his shoulder. Muraku jumped but forced himself to remain calm as he turned around to face him.

Keeping his face blank, he asked, "Is there a problem?"

"You and your friends need to get out of here." Arata warned him.

"What are you talking about?" Muraku kept his tone even and Arata wanted to punch him but that would not sit well with his handler.

"I work for you father so I know who you are and what you are doing here. Leave and don't interfere with my investigation." He hissed, eyes darting around. He noted that two bouncers were watching them suspiciously.

Muraku's eyes narrowed angrily at the admission and he shoveled him away, the volume of his voice rising. "What I do is none of your business."

That caught the attention of the bouncers so Arata frantically grabbed him in a headlock and hissed, "Play along!" Out loud, he grunted and tugged at his captive. "I told you to leave me alone! I'm not in the mood for a battle now!"

"What's going on here?" One of the bouncers demanded as they approached the boys.

Arata loosened his hold, allowing Muraku to break free and answer. "Nothing, just a misunderstanding."

Sharing unconvinced looks, the bouncers each took ahold of one of them. "You're coming with us."

From her position on the catwalk, Mia could only watch helplessly as Muraku was taken to the main office. Their eyes met and he shook his head, mouthing to get Vanessa, Mikhail and Kageto out of here. Mia's mouth pursed and she spun on her heel to find Muraku's friends.


	2. Secret Agent Arc-Part 2

**Authors Note: After so long of inactivity in the Danball Senki fandom, I finally have a new idea for a retelling of Danball Senki Wars after rereading Different than You. Originally, tgis was supposed to be a rewrite of DTY but I decided to do a secret agent au instead.**

**Warning:Discussion about mental health.**

**I apologize in advance if my portrayal of Arata's DID is inaccurate in any way and if I make mistakes, please feel free to correct me. However I refuse to accept criticisms on the basis that Arata's DID is not the same as Hollywood movies. I will only accept correction based on actual facts.**

* * *

"Keep an eye out for four more students who shouldn't be here, two boys and two girls. Boss said that they're with one of the boys that was brought in."

"Right. What do they look like?"

"Here." The first bouncer handed over photos of Mia, Mikhail, Vanessa and Kageto obtained from the CCTVs.

"We'll keep an eye out for them."

As the bouncers descended the catwalk, the four students hiding under there pressed closer to the walls. They waited until the footsteps faded and collectively let out a breath of relief. But it was too early for them to relax. Mia peered out and when she was certain that no one was around, she waved for them to come out.

"We need to save Muraku." Vanessa growled, punching a fist into her palm. She was about to storm off to the main office but Mia pulled her back by the arm.

"I know. But we need to be careful and smart. The bouncers know what we look like and the main office is probably guarded."

"What do you have in mind?" Mikhail asked while keeping an eye out for anyone approaching their hiding spot.

Mia tapped her finger on her thigh with her face scrunched up in thought. Suddenly, she perked up and turned to Kageto, "If you find a breaker, can you rig it to go off?"

Kageto blinked at that. "Of course."

"I think I saw one earlier at the other end of the warehouse." Vanessa pipped in.

"Ok. You need to get Kageto to the breaker. Once the electricity goes off, get out of here. But leave your LBX here and create a distraction with it." Mia directed. The two nodded and made their way to the breaker while attempting blending in with the crowd and avoiding the bouncers. Mia then turned to Mikhail.

"We're going to sneak over to the main office and wait for Kageto's signal. Then we'll use out LBX to lure the guards away and bust Muraku out. I'll take care of whoever is inside."

"Are you sure?" Mikhail shot her a worried look.

"I'll be fine." Mia waved it off. "I have two black belts, remember?"

"Ok." Mikhail nodded but was still reluctant to let his friend's sister get hurt.

They then made their way to the main office, using the crowd as a cover. But Mia saw a bouncer turn and did not turn away in time to avoid being recognized. The bouncer yelled and pointed at their direction. But before the other bouncers could react, the lights went off.

Many students were groaning and complaining about it while the bouncers rushed to the breaker to turn the lights back on. But Mia and Mikhail took this as their cue to hasten the pace before the first bouncer tried to find them. Along the way, they heard yells and the sound of an LBX rifle going off at the other side of the warehouse.

"I hope Vanessa and Kageto are safe."

"They will be. We need to get Muraku out, meet up with them, and get the headmaster here. I don't care about getting more info on the battling ring anymore and I will _drag_ Muraku out whether he likes it or not."

Mikhail sweatdropped at her declaration but knew that she will carry out her threat. When they got to the main office, they used their LBX's night vision to survey the security.

"Four guards and who knows how many inside. Let's get them away before the lights come back on." Mia and Mikhail shared nods. They sent their LBX further down the hall and had them shoot at the pipes to create a loud clang.

"What was that?!"

"Go check it out!"

The two teens peered out of their hiding spot and hissed frustratedly when only two of the guards left their post. They needed to get the remaining two away from the door.

A loud bang resonated through the hall that came from the inside of the room that sounded like flesh hitting the door. Mia and Mikhail tensed while the guards exchanged wary glances.

"Should we check it out?"

"Boss didn't call us in." His companion shook his head.

"What do you think is going on in there?" Mikhail wondered out loud, face contorted in apprehension.

"Nothing good." Mia replied grimly.

* * *

_10 Minutes Earlier_

"For the record, it's your fault we're in this mess." Arata hissed at Muraku. They were forced to sit and wait on the chairs in the office for the boss of the operation to show up. Muraku threw back an equally unamused glare.

"I don't see how it is my fault when you are the one who confronted me."

"You've messed up my entire plan to take down this ring by showing up. I don't know how I'm going to explain this to Director Houjou now."

The purple eyed boy's face tightened at the mention of his father and snapped, "Excuse me for wanting to deal with this matter myself since my father never gave me any assurance that this was being taken care of. And why is the NLA even involved with this?"

Arata threw him an annoyed look. "The battling ring is a nation-wide operation and Kamui Island is only one of its many sites, that's why. I was sent to track down as many sites as I can and find the main base of the operations."

Muraku's eyes became wide at this revelation. But before he could prod further, the door swung open and a large greasy man strutted in and Arata recognized him as the head of the battling ring.

"So, these are the two boys causing the commotion?"

"Yes." The bouncers that brought them here nodded.

"Any record of them in our guest list?"

One of them shook his head. "We reviewed the security tapes. The red head boy got an invitation. But the dark head boy snuck in with his friends thanks to another student. I think they're siblings."

The boss scowled and jabbed his thumb at the door. "What are you waiting for? Find his friends before they report our operation!"

The bouncers immediately straightened. "Yes boss!"

Muraku barely reacted to the boss' orders against his friends and sister except through a slight tremble in his hands. Arata felt it but remained calm and hopefully he can talk themselves out of trouble before things get worse.

The boss eyed them with a sneer. He tried to intimidate the boys by stomping over to them and getting close to their faces. "I just got off the phone with the higher ups. They would like to have a word with the both of you, especially you." He punctuated his words with a glare at Arata.

"What?" Arata blinked while keeping his breath steady.

"Don't play dumb. I know that you are part of the NLA."

"The National LBX Agency?" Arata cocked an eyebrow questioningly. "Last I checked, they only hire adults, and I'm a high schooler."

"But there's the Junior Program that is not public knowledge." The boss smirked as Arata tensed and pressed on. "The higher ups reviewed all the data from the sites that were shut down recently by the NLA and they found that you showed up at 4 sites across the nation which were raided shortly after. And almost immediately after we set this place up, you enrolled in this school."

Arata kept his calm façade but inwardly, he was panicking that his cover was blown. And to make matters worse, Violent was stirring, having sensed his distress. Before Violent could forcefully take over the body and Arata could activate his distress becon, the lights went off, plunging the room into darkness.

"What!?" The boss stammered, taking a few steps back. Arata inhaled sharply as Violent suddenly retreated back and Muraku muttered something about his friends.

Once he regained his bearings, Arata wasted no time in blinking three times in rapid session to activate his night vision contact lenses, his eyes falling on the boss who was attempting to contact the bouncers outside and on his left, Muraku was prepared to get up. He immediately grabbed the purple eye boy's shoulder, pulling him back down.

"Stay here. I'll take care of him." Arata's stern tone left no room for argument. Before the boss knew what was happening, Arata kicked him in the torso. The boss gasped for breath as the air in his lungs were forcefully expelled. He angrily glared at the direction the kick came from and swung his fist there but only met thin air. Arata, having ducked under his arm, quickly grabbed the outstretched arm and twisted it to pin the boss to the wall. With his free hand, he stole the boss' CCM from his pocket.

The boss suddenly broke free and threw Arata into the door. The red head flinched but quickly rolled out of the way as the boss came barreling into the door. With a sharp kick to the head, the boss was knocked out. Arata sighed and turned to address Muraku only to find that he vacated his seat and was now shifting through the boss' computer.

"Didn't you listen to what I said?" Arata groaned as he joined Muraku. The other teen only shot him a bland look and resumed going through the computer…Until the door blew open under the pressure of Mia's kick.

"Let my brother go or…" She trailed off when she nearly stumbled over the boss' unconscious form. Behind her laid the prone bodies of all the guards and Mikhail torn between being in awe and sheepish. Squinting in, she glared at brother who had the decency to look a little guilty.

"Come on, we need to get out of here." She growled, prepared to carry out her threat of dragging her brother out. Arata sighed and shoveled Muraku to the door.

"Go! NLA agents are going to swarm this place in less than a minute. Get out of here before anyone sees you."

Muraku growled but Arata merely raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to put your friends in more danger than they already are?"

That made Muraku tense and after a second, he was out of the room, Mia and Mikhail in tow. Arata shook his head as he zip-tied the boss and the guards. Once done, he threw the boss out of the room and locked it down.

Slipping an earpiece in, he tapped on it. "Director Houjou, I found the battle ring's site on Kamui Island but my cover has been compromised. And I found out that the head of the Kamui Island site is in direct contact with the 'higher ups' of the entire operation."

_"Are you in any immediate danger?"_

"No."

_"Then get out of there. Saito's team is on his way. I will debrief you at the rendezvous point."_

"Yes sir." Arata terminated the call and quickly made his grand exit out the window. As he ran to the rendezvous point, he hoped that the Houjou siblings and their friends heeded his warning and stay far away when the raid goes down.

* * *

"Look at all those agents." Vanessa whistled as the group watched the scene unfold. They were watching the raid on the warehouse from a safe vantage point at Seagull Park thank to the magnifying lenses of their LBX. Once Muraku, Mia and Mikhail got out of the warehouse, they joined up with Vanessa and Kageto who were hiding nearby and got away before the NLA agents arrived.

Muraku casted the warehouse a sour glare and stormed off. His friends were taken aback by his sullenness while Mia sighed. "I'll go and see what's bothering him."

She caught up with her brother and shoveled him lightly. "Alright Mr. Grumpy Pants, spill. What happened in that office? Did the boss hurt you?"

"No." Muraku gritted his teeth.

"Then what's getting you so worked up?"

Muraku bit his lip, an action that Mia recognized that he did only when he was anxious. "That boy who confronted me, he works for otou-san. He blamed me for ruining their operation to shut down the ring."

Mia groaned loudly and rubbed her face tiredly. "Does this mean that he is on the island?"

"…Yes."

Mia silently cursed and Muraku did not have the heart to reprimand her when he was longing to do the same. When she calmed down, she took a hold of his shoulders. "You know what, this wasn't your fault. It's otou-san's for not communicating with us properly. He should have given us some kind of warning that the NLA was on to the battling ring."

Her hands moved downwards and grasped his hands. "Come on. Swallow Café is having a weekend discount on its parfaits."

Muraku managed a smile at his sister. "Can you even afford discounted parfaits? You were complaining that you were broke."

"Mano returned some silver credits she owed me yesterday." Mia grinned. She whipped out her CCM and sent a text to Vanessa. "I told them that we're going off first. If they want to, they can join us later."

She linked arms with him and pulled him in the direction of the town. Muraku let himself relax in his sister's calm. It was rare that she would have this calm aura since she is normally hot tempered, but when Muraku needed it, she was willing to reign in her temper to act as the voice of reason.

* * *

_Elsewhere_

Arata made his way down the docks to the rendezvous point without looking back to admire the chaos he unintentionally started at the warehouse. The NLA agents had arrived and was rounding up everyone involved now. The students will be brought before the headmaster to face disciplinary action, though it is likely that they will be expelled. The organizers of the battling ring on the other hand will be brought before the authorities and interrogated for the 'higher ups' whereabouts.

He slowed down as his handler stepped into his path. When he got closer, he handed over the boss' CCM.

"It's likely he used this to contact the ones behind the battling rings, the 'higher ups' he called them. We can use the numbers to track them down and shut down the whole operation."

His handler, Director Houjou Mitsuki of the NLA's junior program, nodded. "Good work. But how was your cover compromised?"

Arata winced at that. "Apparently they were keeping track of everyone that participates in the battling rings at every site. They figured out that I was gathering intelligence on them when I showed up at all the sites that were raided."

Director Houjou slowly nodded and sighed. "I have to officially pull you out of this operation then. We'll let the senior division handle the rest. By the way, this was supposed to be strictly a surveillance mission. How did it go south?"

"There were several students who decided to take matters into their own hands and investigate the battling ring themselves. I got caught trying to get them to leave." He hesitated before continuing. "They are your children."

Director Houjou inhaled sharply and sent a piercing glare at him. "What were they thinking?"

"To be fair, they had no idea that the NLA was investigating them." Arata pointedly.

Director Houjou sighed and ran a hand over his face. "Alright, that is on me. But what possessed Muraku and Mia to put themselves in danger like this?"

Arata kept quiet on that. He had an inkling based on his interactions with Muraku but decided not to voice it out. This was a family matter that Director Houjou needed to sort out with the twins.

"Sir, if there is nothing else, I should take my leave. I will be back at HQ tomorrow."

"No, you won't." Director Houjou suddenly shook his head. "Not for a while at least. You need to remain on the island for your next assignment."

Arata raised an eyebrow at his handler. "But protocol says that I have to return to HQ if my status as a Junior agent is ever exposed."

"Not to anyone relevant to your assignment, except for my children but I will deal with them."

"And what is my assignment?"

"I'll debrief you on it tomorrow. Meet me back here at 8."

"Yes sir." Arata bowed and took his leave.

As he made his way back to the dorms, he noted down anything relevant that Happy should know on a notebook he kept specifically for communicating with his alters. A part of him wonders if he should mention the Houjou twins but decided not to. Happy might not even meet them at school considering that Rossius students generally stayed away from Jenock students except during War Time.

Tucking his notebook in his pocket, he blinked as he let Happy take back control of the body.

Happy grinned and stretched his arms overhead. "Ah, that was a good nap. It was nice of Arata-san to let me sleep longer." The growling of his stomach made him pause and laugh sheepishly. "Better go back to the dorms and get something to eat!"


	3. Secret Agent Arc-Part 3

**Authors Note: This chapter is shorter as it concludes the _Arata, Secret NLA Agent_ arc. Next up will be the _Bodyguard_ arc that will take place weeks after this arc. **

**Warning:Discussion about mental health.**

**I apologize in advance if my portrayal of Arata's DID is inaccurate in any way and if I make mistakes, please feel free to correct me. However I refuse to accept criticisms on the basis that Arata's DID is not the same as Hollywood movies. I will only accept correction based on actual facts.**

* * *

By the time night came, news about the NLA raid had spread throughout the island and is the hot topic of gossip at dinner. But for Houjou Muraku, it was a sour reminder of his estrangled relationship with his father. To make matters worse, his father had called him and Mia earlier to tell them not to tell anyone about his agent on the island. Nothing about how he and Mia were doing or if they were alright after their ordeal. He would even accept a reprimand for their recklessness.

But nothing.

His fist clenched tightly as he remembered his father's message and his eyes darkened. His father's primary concern is only for his agent, the red-haired boy. In other words, his work is still more important to him than Mia and him. It was no wonder their mother could not stand it that she got herself killed.

A touch on his shoulder made him jerk up. He was about to snap at whoever it was but his voice died in his throat when he realized it was only his friends who were looking concern about him.

He quickly smoothed out his expression as he regarded them. "What is it?"

Mikhail blinked and soften his expression. "We heard that Mia is crushing anyone who is brave enough to challenge her at the gym. And seeing that you are, well, broodier than usual…"

"What he means to say is that we're worried." Vanessa finished. "You two always get like this when your dad does something to annoy you two."

Muraku takes a deep breath to calm down, eyes closed. "I'm sorry. But it's just so infuriating that he puts his work before us."

"We know. But you got us." Kageto gestured at himself and Vanessa and Mikhail. "And Mia. And she has her platoon, however crazy they can get."

"You don't need your father's approval or attention when you have us. We'll stick by your side to the end." Mikhail gently added, Vanessa and Kageto nodding in agreement to their comrade's promise.

A thin smile formed on Muraku's lips at that reminder. His friends were right. He and Mia grew up without their father. They didn't need him to succeed in their goals to change the school. But the agent…He clenched his fist. He won't let him get in the way of his goals. And if he finds him at War Time, he'll make him LOST like everyone had faced, no matter his father's warnings.

* * *

_At the Duck Manor, Happy POV_

Everyone was engrossed with dinner and gossip, especially about the illegal battling ring and the NLA raid. Happy tried to ignore them as he scoffed down his meal. He figured that Arata was involved in the raid. He and the other alters are never conscious whenever Arata does his business with the NLA which suits them as they do not want to get involve or accidentally reveal details about Arata's missions to the wrong person.

Every once in a while, he would throw in a comment or two about the situation but he won't go into topic deeply. He let the others chalk it up to being upset by the incident.

Happy is normally a happy-go-lucky person who is fairly good at LBX battles and social interactions. It was one of the reasons why Arata asked him to take over during classes and when around his classmates since the original personality suffers from social anxiety outside missions. And he also loves LBX just as passionately as Arata does which is why he is willing to support Arata like this even though he doesn't want to be involved with the NLA.

"Are you alright? You've been quiet throughout dinner?" Sakuya asked him later at the common room where they were doing their homework.

"Ah, yeah! I'm alright." Happy laughed sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head. "I was just thinking about…new strategies."

Sakuya blinked at Happy's hastily thought up excuse. "Strategies…?"

"For War Time." He elaborated.

"I see…" Sakuya blinked but nodded in acceptance of his platoonmate's answer

* * *

_Sakuya POV_

Arata was a strange person, Sakya thought. He acted friendly and airhead, during class and War Time. But he also acted secretive outside school and would disappear without explanation. When asked, he would give vague excuses as to what he was doing. Hikaru was indifferent to it but Haruki was concerned. And Sakuya felt the same as his friend. It was not that they suspected him in a bad way, but Arata's refusal of being forthcoming of his activities grated on most of their classmates' *ahem* Catherin and Kaito *ahem* nerves though they cannot exactly control what Arata does during his disappearances.

But Sakuya was willing to trust Arata to be on Jenock's side unless proven otherwise. Having his happy-go-lucky attitude is refreshing since it's drawing Haruki out of the shell he withdrawn into when the Violet Devil made their former teammates LOST. And despite not taking War Time seriously as Haruki would like, Arata is a good LBX player and a great addition to Jenock, just like Hikaru.

They finished their homework quietly with minimal distractions. Sakuya noted that when Arata was done, he pulled out a notebook and flipped through it, wrote something then flipped back and read something that was written there, nodding to himself.

Sakuya raised an eyebrow at Arata's strange actions. He had seen Arata do that a lot with that notebook. It didn't have any markings on the cover to indicate what it was used for and he was sure that it was not used for school work. He had a feeling in his gut that Arata's random disappearances had something to do with the notebook though.

* * *

_Arata POV_

The next day right before lunch, Arata took over the body again and slipped out of the dorms. He immediately headed back to the meeting point and only needed to wait five minutes for Director Houjou to arrive.

"Good morning. I trust that you rested well last night?"

Arata straightened up and bowed in greeting. "Yes sir."

Director Houjou eyed his subordinate carefully. Satisfied by what he saw, he passed Arata a file. "Here are the details of your mission."

Arata accepted the file and flipped through it. His eyebrows shot up as he read it. "This is…"

"Your mission is to protect the Prime Minister's son, Tougou Rikuya, who is currently studying at Kamui Daimon from any potential threats outside of War Time." Director Houjou stated. "As you know, he is in possession of one of the Parasite Keys which can be used to open up the Lost Area if it falls into the wrong hands. In accordance with this plan, Rikuya's LBX is protected during War Time from being destroyed by LBX players sent by the NLA Junior Program."

"Then why have me protect him outside of War Time?"

Director Houjou sighed and lowered his voice. "The Prime Minster is being threatened."

Arata's eyes widened marginally and Director Houjou continued, "This has yet to be public knowledge so make sure that no one hears about this. The Prime Minister has been receiving death threats towards him and his son. The NLA and Secret Service are now working together to find the sender of the threats and protect the Prime Minister. But his main concern is his son's safety."

"Then wouldn't it be better to pull him out and bring him back to the mainland. Or even send Secret Service agents to the school to protect him?" Arata frowned.

"Not too practical. The first option will create suspicion if the school lets a student who is not expelled leave alone. So anyone who figures this out can target him in the journey between the school and the Prime Minister's office. The second will immediately alert everyone of Rikuya's whereabouts as his enrollment in the school is not public knowledge. Therefore, it was decided that since you are already on the island for the battling ring mission, you will continue to remain here and keep an eye out on Rikuya together with his platoon. But they will focus on their duty to protect his LBX during War Time and if necessary, report any suspicious activity around Rikuya to you. Your job is to ensure his safety and keeping me informed of any threats that arise."

"Understood." Arata nodded. But inwardly he was wondering how well received his protection will be from his protectee. He knew that Rikuya already has a bad impression of 'him' or rather Happy. He knew that Akito, Shin and Kouta knew that he is an NLA Junior Agent like them but he has no idea whether they told Rikuya or not. And there was his DID…

"Does Rikuya know about this arrangement and my condition?"

"He is being informed by his father as we speak. I suspect your full dossier will be sent over to him so he will know soon enough."

That made Arata sigh. There's no telling how Rikuya would react that his bodyguard is a kid his age with mental issues. Many people doubt his capabilities simply because he has a mental illness that gives him multiple personalities. Given the clandestine nature of many of his missions, their doubts are well founded. But working with his therapist and Director Houjou's training to help him embrace his condition, he learned to turn his DID into a strength and advantage. Speaking of which…

"How upset are the higher ups that I got the mission?"

"Very." Director Houjou rolled his eyes with an amused huff. "Yagami-san especially. But we are running low on options and once Tougou-san read your dossier, he agreed to assign you the mission. But, only on the condition that you continue your sessions with Tanya. Arrangements has been made so that you can leave the island once a week for your sessions with her."

Arata nearly groaned at that but inwardly was slightly relieved that he can see his favorite person in the whole NLA agency, next to Director Houjou of course. "How long will this mission last?"

"We are not sure. Until we find out what is the threat against the Prime Minister, we have to assume that the duration of this mission is indefinite."

"Yes sir."

* * *

_We're staying on this island indefinitely?!_

Arata winced as he read Placid's responses on his DID notebook. Placid is one of his calmer alters and sort of Happy's babysitter. But Arata's work with the NLA frustrates him sometimes. He knew that Placid has a life outside his whenever he took over. And Placid hated last-minute changes in his life for the sake of his missions.

But still, Arata is the main personality, whatever he decides is what the body would do. However, that does not mean that he is heartless towards his alters. Compromising with them is a challenge, but they have a system for it after years of coping and therapy.

_ I'll let you take control after our next session with Tanya-sensei. You can go wild on shopping and charge it to my NLA allowance. _

PS, Placid is a shopaholic. Director Houjou would likely cut back on his next allowance once he gets the bill for this month's spending but it would be worth it to get Placid on his side in this matter. At least Happy is content to stay on the island and keep up the charade of being the front.

And once Happy and Placid are, well, happy and supporting, the other alters will follow. Violent is a different story. But for now, he's quiet and observing, likely will be continuing to do so for a long time which is a small reprieve for Arata. Even so, he will continue to monitor the unpredictable alter.

* * *

_Inside Arata's mind, Violent POV_

Deep in the furthest reaches of Arata's mind, the alter known as Violent observed Arata and his interactions with the other alters. He does not bother to join in. He knows that Arata is afraid of him and his methods.

But if it weren't for him, Arata would not even be alive during those years in Africa. He did what he had to protect the body, Arata and himself. Arata does not understand it but Violent doesn't care. He will continue to protect the body and Arata as long as necessary whether Arata is aware of it or not.


	4. Bodyguard Arc-Part 1

_Weeks later, Arata POV_

Rikuya had taken Arata's new post as sourly as he expected. He explicitly told him that he did not trust him to get the job done nor did he need a bodyguard. Arata took it with mild annoyance but decided it was not worth arguing with him about it. His platoon mates were apologetic of Rikuya's attitude and promised to keep an eye out for anything suspicious. They too received a briefing from Director Houjou before he went back to NLA HQ. They were also given strict instructions to remain indifferent towards him whenever 'Arata' was not in charge.

Otherwise, life went on normally, well, as normally it can be for Happy. Until their first encounter of the Violet Devil in War Time.

Their encounter on the battlefield was nothing short of a nerve-racking ordeal. Happy had tried to cooperate with Haruki like Sakuya asked and Arata insisted. But the plan went sideways very quickly with the appearance of the Violet Devil. And Happy would never admit it, but he panicked and made his LBX use a hissatsu on Gunther Ylzephar to stop it from destroying Haruki's. Which only served to turn Ylzephar's ire on him and nearly destroy his LBX in retaliation. It is only thanks to Gendou that he didn't. Arata would kill him if he got them expelled now.

* * *

After War Time and debriefing was over, Muraku strode out of the building with a goal in mind, to intercept Arata and give him a warning against crossing him again. Once Kageto ran the LBX that struck Ylzephar's unit number to find out who the controller is, he was ashamed to say that he ignored his platoonmate's calls and left them back in the class as anger clouded his mind. Rarely did he allow his emotions to surface under his tight rein, but when it came to matters regarding his father, his work and his favored agent, he lost all control.

At least Mia would not know anything about it if he can help it. Last he heard, she was busy scolding (yelling) at her platoon for the cafeteria incident from that afternoon so she is sufficiently distracted. And his platoonmates won't say anything to her but will keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn't maim anyone.

It may look strange that he was waiting at gates but thankfully he didn't have to wait long.

"Houjou Muraku?!" Ah, there's Haruki, Muraku grimaced inwardly at the exclamation of his former friend. Once upon a time, Muraku and Haruki became friends when they first entered the school together even though they were assigned to different virtual countries, even thought it was against the rules. But their friendship did not last long as the strain of being in different countries caught up to them and the incident where Muraku got two of his platoonmates expelled in the name of his crusade to become a commander. After that, a hurt Haruki cut off all contact with him and refused to acknowledge him as a friend anymore. To this day, Muraku regrets destroying Haruki's teammates' LBXs more than others and the way their friendship ended.

He shoveled aside his regrets for the moment and focused on Arata with a hard glare.

"You are the first one to land a blow on my unit. Sena Arata, I'll remember your name this time and I will not lose the next time we meet at War Time." He hissed.

Arata...only blinked in confusion. "This time? I don't remember meeting you before."

Muraku barely held back his own confusion and anger at Arata's apparent forgetfulness of interrupting his stakeout and of him that easily; or denying it to maintain his cover. But instead of calling him out on it though, he decided that it was not worth it if Arata was going to deny it for the sake of his mission. So he turned away and walked off, leaving the confused students of Jenock behind.

* * *

_Happy pov_

"What was that?" Happy scratched his head, perplexed by the encounter. His classmates held similar looks as they stared at where Muraku had walked off.

"Arata, are you sure that you have never met Muraku before?" Haruki asked quietly, suddenly serious.

Happy searched his memories for any past encounter or mention of Houjou Muraku and found nothing. He shook his head at Haruki. "Nothing rings a bell."

"Maybe he confused you with someone else?" Yuno suggested.

"Maybe." Happy said absentmindedly as he rubbed his arm. But from the looks of Haruki's face, he wasn't entirely convinced. But the atmosphere of perplexity and suspicion cleared once the topic of conversation drifted to their plans for the weekend, but Hikaru and Haruki barely joining in as they didn't have any set plans.

"I am going to have to spend the next two days fixing up our LBX." Sakuya groaned.

"Sorry about that." Happy winced apologetically before brightening up. "I can help you if you want-! Oh wait, I can't tomorrow." He suddenly scrunched up his face.

"Got more plans to disappear for the day?" Hikaru snarked, earning a disapproving glare from Haruki.

"Sort of? I have to go to the mainland to see my therapist." Arata rubbed his arm again, this time because of being uncomfortable talking about it. Unfortunately, this gained everyone's attention.

"Why are you seeing?" Haruki asked.

"I have issues, that's all I'm saying."

Recognizing that their friend is not comfortable in saying more, they thankfully did not push. Instead Yuno asked, wide eyed, "I didn't know the school allows students to leave the island."

"Only for special cases like Arata's." Haruki stepped in to explain. "The school is willing to make allowances for students to travel to the mainland as long as they have a valid reason like therapy or hospital visits."

"So I'll be gone every Saturday starting this week for my sessions." Arata added.

"Why didn't you go before?" Sakuya asked out of curiosity, knowing that Arata did not leave the island for the past weeks since he arrived.

"It wasn't finalized, and my therapist happened to be on holiday when I first came to the school so the paperwork got pushed back."

Haruki and the others accepted the explanation and thankfully dropped the subject. And the topic then drifted to who is the better pro-LBX player in the circuit.

In the mindscape, Arata sighed in relief that the topic was dropped. He knew he would have fared worse in the questioning if he had fronted. As a rule, he did not deal well with social interactions unless it is pertaining to his missions. It's weird how his brain is wired like that. Though interactions with his classmates could technically count as part of his missions, he was not certain that he could stand it. So in the end, Happy is still in charge of school interactions.

And he also mentally cringed remembering Muraku's confrontation with Happy. He did not expect to encounter Muraku at all at school. But looking back, it was a fool's hope. He, or Happy, or any of his alters for the matter, always ended up in unusual situations, no matter how much precaution he takes. Thankfully, Muraku was not interested in dragging on the confrontation or outing him as an NLA Junior Agent...for now. He chewed on his lip as he realized that Muraku, and Mia, were unknown factors in his mission since they know his identity. Though Director Houjou reassured him that he would take care of them, he wasn't sure that they would listen given their animosity towards their father.

* * *

Meanwhile, after his brief confrontation with Arata, Muraku checked on the whereabouts of his platoon and Mia's and found that they were at Gulf Peak. As he was arrived at the seaside observatory, he was greeted with the sight of the chaotic trio in a seiza position with bumps on their head and Mia yelling at them, waving her hands angrily while pacing in front of them. Behind them were his platoonmates who were wincing at Mia's increasing volume. But other than the bumps on their head, there were no visible signs that Mia had maimed them which is a slight relief to him.

Muraku took his cue to show himself and approached his friends. "I'm sorry for ditching you guys just now."

"Apology accepted." The ever-polite Mikhail inclined his head at their captain. "Though, we thought you would be more...furious when we found out who controls that LBX."

"He didn't even land a blow on Gunther Ylzephar, just chipped its blade." Kageto grunted.

"It's the concept of it." Vanessa nudged him. "Anyway, watching Mia scold the chaotic trio is more entertaining that the drama that they air on TV here."

This time, Muraku did not bother to suppress his sigh. "They deserve it, especially since Mia became a victim of their prank this time."

"...And if you ever pull off a stunt like that again, I will make Commander Ivan look like a saint when I get my hands on you three!" Mia finally screamed while panting heavily, face red.

"We're sorry Mia!" The three quickly lowered their heads in apology.

Mia pushed back her hair that got into her face. "Fine, just don't do something like that again. Now go back to the dorms and do the essay that the headmaster gave you as punishment."

"Yes Mia!" The trio quickly got up and ran back to the Swan Manor. Signing, Mia collapsed on a bench and glared at her brother.

"Finally decided to show up, I see."

"Sorry." He nodded at his platoonmates and they nodded back, leaving Gulf Peak to give them some privacy.

Mia huffed and smirked at him as he sat down beside her. "So what set you off this time, Mr. Grumpypants?"

Muraku rolled his eyes at her nickname for him whenever he got upset. "What gave that away?"

"I'm your twin, I know when you are angry, no matter how much you try to suppress it for your platoon." Mia pointed out. "Does it have anything to do with what happened during today's War Time? I heard that someone managed to land a blow on Ylzephar."

"It was Sena Arata."

Mia stared at her brother at the news and cursed. "That explains your temper. So what did you do? Don't tell me you punched him!"

"I'm not that temperamental like you to cause bodily harm." Muraku scowled at her.

"I know, I'm just joking." Mia lightly shoveled him. "You know, it's funny that you are supposed to be the cool and calm twin while I am the temperamental one. But once otou-san is in the picture, it's the opposite. So what exactly did you do to him?"

"I just told him that he was the first to land a blow on my LBX and that I would not lose the next time. But either he doesn't recognize me or just pretending to, he said that he doesn't know who I am." Muraku frowned.

"Very likely that he's pretending to, for the sake of his mission, whatever it is."

"Exactly my thought." Muraku exhaled.

"So what are you going to do now? I know you; you'd want to do everything you can to win next time, but otou-san said that we cannot interfere in his last message, which means you cannot destroy his LBX."

"Like you said, I just have to win. I will defeat him, but I won't actively try to destroy his LBX. He didn't say that I cannot make War Time easy for him either." Muraku smirked. "Sena Arata is Jenock's new ace, whether they know it or not. I will ensure that no matter what they do, Sena Arata will not succeed."

"Have fun with that. My platoon will be posted at Angel Piece indefinitely so we'll leave the tormenting to you guys."

"I sympathize Andrei-senpai already."

"Nah, he's cool with us. He likes Mano's idea of upgrading the defenses with her traps. For someone as gruff as him, he's actually very reasonable when it counts."

Muraku shivered at that. "How long will that last?"

"Debatable. Hopefully after today, they learnt their lesson in going too far." Mia groaned. She then offered him a smile. "Hey, you know that no matter what happens, I'll support anything you do."

Muraku returned the gesture and nodded. "I know."

**

* * *

**

**So I apologize for the long wait, but I had a bit of writers' block and exams. But I am finally free and I managed to write this chapter in one day. It's an introduction to the Bodyguard Arc where Arata is now Rikuya's bodyguard outside of War Time.**

**I made Haruki and Muraku former friends in the Breake'verse. And Muraku is more morally grey and darker in this 'verse. But he will play an important role for Arata's mission in the future.**


End file.
